To Love a Boy • France

Strawberry Blond

Finney had never seen fireflies before—he hadn't seen a lot of things. He was taught from a very young age that people wouldn't like him because of how he was so he didn't go out much, or at all. The 16 year old had a percuiler feature to him, a feature he was told pushed people away which tributed to his hermit behavior—two white wings sprouted from his back—no one knew why they were there all they knew was that it was different so it should've been hidden, so it was.

His house was the only place Finney knew, his sister and father were the only family he had and it was good enough—reading about the outside was safer than exploring it anyways, though the teenager still dreamed; dreamed about the ocean, the stars, he dreamed of touching the sky though it was so far away... it seemed so unlikely.

Finney couldn't keep dreaming so one day he did something. He knew it was dumb and dangerous but on one faithful night—he left. His father was sleeping when the boy decided to leave.

In their little seaside town, a festival was held every spring on pier to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of the new season, and every spring Finney watched from afar, but not this year.

The warm glow of the fire warmed him as he smiled at the lights which highlighted the people who took notice of the winged boy but didn't bother him. Finney was able to ignore these stares as the boy found himself over by the water which glistened with the refelection of stars. The water released a cool effect on Finney's skin as he leaned in as close as he could get without falling in.

The giant ships coming in and out of the harbor caught his eye. He used to watch them through his window, now he realized how big they truly were. They moved so carelessly throughtout the water—they were free—here Finney didn't feel like such a freak, not like his father led him to believe.

Finney had never felt happier, even as a child found his way over to him, amused and amazed by his wings. "Are they real?" The little boy who looked no older than five asked, wide eyed. There wasn't malice in his voice just pure curiousity. "Yeah," Finney cheerfully responded, smile wide as the child pulled him along to the crowd of people dancing to the mystical music.

He had never been carefree before though just like the ships and their captains he wanted to try answering to no one. His dancing was awful as he wildly spun around but, once again, he was happy.

"Hello," Someone interrupted, their voice was kind and soft as they did so. Finney stopped spinning, causing his head to grow dizzy as he tried facing the person who had walked over to him. He was expecting to get attention, just not the positive kind.

Maybe his father was wrong—maybe people weren't cruel.

Finney's heart quickened as his vision cleared and the kind person came into focus. The boy, who looked to be just about Finney's age, was quite pretty—hazel eyes, black straight hair, and a smile that could undoubtly stop hearts. Finney's eyes twinkled in the moonlight. "Um, hi," He smiled, looking away as he readjusted his breathing.

"Are you, like, an Angel?" The boy asked, he looked geniunely curious as he eyed the white wings on Finney's back which fluttered ever so slightly in the soft wind. Finney shook his head though his smile only grew. "No, i'm not—thank you though." Finney hadn't been called an Angel in a while, it reminded him of an old friend.

While growing up the only person Finney had besides his sister and father was Vance—who was long gone by now—but back then, he was the only connection to the outside world Finney had. His father hated Vance to his core, he had to constantly kick him out of the house which never truly stopped him as the rebel always came back.

He was the worst, a complete asshole, but for some reason Finney couldn't help but miss him.

"My name's Bruce," The stranger grinned, holding out his hand which the other boy accepted gleefully. "I'm Finney." Bruce's hand was soft and warm in his own. The heat traveled up into Finney's face as he burned a bright red—that had never happened before, at least not in this context. He pulled his hand away and swallowed hard, avoiding eye contact. "I like your wings," Bruce smiled.

Finney bit his lip trying to conceal his smile. "Really?" He couldn't help but ask for confirmation. "Yes really. I think they're pretty cool," Bruce reassured. The two boys smiled at each other as the gentle music engulfed them though the moment fell flat as Bruce became suddenly panicked, catching Finney off guard as he tried figuring out what went wrong.

"I-I need to go," Bruce stuttered. "Did I do something wrong?" Finney frowned, everything was fine only moments ago. The winged teenager was desperate to know what changed. "Of course not, i'm sorry—I truly hope to see you again, in fact I believe I will." The boy swallowed hard before excusing himself—that was confusing to say the least.

Bruce seemed nice enough even if he wasn't the best at exits though that wasn't a deal breaker.

Finney sighed as he found his way back to the seaside, leaning over the wood railing once again, eyes searching the water which stretched for miles ahead of him. As he was joyfully watching the horizon, letting the sea salt fill his senses, a hand grazed his wing, ruffling the feathers slightly. Finney spun around swiftly—his wings were extremely sensitive, touch basically disoriented Finney for a bit, making him panicked and annoyed.

The winged boy turned to face the jerk who touched them without asking though the face he was met with was a huge shock. Vance had left many years ago, now he was standing in front of him. Finney wanted nothing more to punch him—instead he jumped into his friends arms. "I knew I recognized those wings anywhere," Vance smirked. "How's my gurdian Angel?" Finney was feeling a lot of things in that moment—mostly anger.

Finney pulled away with a frown, wacking the blonde boy in the arm. "What is wrong with you?" He asked, voice stern and most certaintly unhappy. "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? You shouldn't be here, we both know that."

"What are you my dad now?" Finney scoffed. "No, i'm much cooler." The winged boy punched the older teenager in the arm once again. "You asshole, you left me all alone so that you could go off and play Pirate with your little crew or whatever you call that group of children that you brainwashed into thinking you were cool—I needed you, you dipshit!"

Finney hadn't seen Vance in about two years and suddenly he was just there without any explaination what-so-ever. "I know you're angry, but i'm sorry—you know I had to leave," Finney shook his head. "Yeah, the problem is I couldn't," The brunette began walking away, he was mad at Vance; popping up two years later didn't make up for the fact that he left for two years.

"Hey, but you did leave." Vance ran his fingers across Finney's wings again causing the shorter boy to punch him once again, this time in the stomach. "Stop doing that!" He demanded. "Listen Finney, i'm here for a reason, okay?" Vance began though the other teenager wasn't listening. "Would you dance with me?" He asked receiving a scoff. "Ew, no," Finney muttered. "Please, you're in danger, if you dance with me I can explain."

"You are coming off as awfully pushy,"

"I'm serious—something is going to go wrong—they're watching." Finney stopped walking away as he heard Vance's pleas—he should've led with the whole danger thing. "What are you talking about?" He was beginning to panic. "One dance," The boy asked again. Finney thought for a second before reluctuntly agreeing.

As the two friends began slow dancing together Vance began explaining. "Some really bad men are trying to get you–" Finney cut him off. "This is my first time ever leaving the house, how could they be after me?" He asked. "–I don't know, all I know is while I was at sea I caught wind of a 'mysterious winged boy' the description was you, Finney blake—you have a hit on you for 3 million dollars."

Finney pulled away. "You're crazy," He scoffed. "I'm not lying—that's why i'm here," Vance added. "But, you need to come with me." Finney shook his head. This was his first time truly leaving the house and it was only supposed to be for the night—no way in hell would he last a day overseas. "I don't believe you!" He yelled. "Finney, please, I wouldn't lie about this."

On some level he truly did believe Vance, but he didn't want to—he refused to. "Leave me alone!" He yelled. "Please do this the easy way..." Vance warned. "Go back to your stupid pirate ship," Finney frowned as he turned around to leave.

"I'm so sorry," Vance muttered.

The next few moments were a blur for Finney as he fell unconscience, unaware of what the fuck was happening—though Vance was telling the truth, Finney was in major danger.

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Notes: oh no overprotected Finney out in the big bad world, what will he do now? I hope y'all enjoyed this first chapter Im gonna go watch Bishu now

Word count: 1,635